[Forwarded from Russian Embassy in London]
?Embassy reply to a media question regarding Defence Secretary Ben Wallace’s claim against Russia
❓Question: How would you comment on the recent statements by Ben Wallace who said that Russian is a “fascist state” that “does not want to listen”?
?Answer: We have numerously urged UK officials to refrain from insulting and escalatory rhetoric intended to camouflage their own foreign policy failings.
▪️It seems Secretary Wallace has forgotten events of the recent past. And we know that history has a habit of repeating itself badly when politicians fail to learn from its mistakes. Seeing such omissions from a Defence Secretary is a worrisome sign. Nevertheless, we are happy to once more refresh Secretary Wallace’s memory.
▪️First, Russia since 2015 has repeatedly called on the West to apply pressure on Ukraine to implement the Minsk Agreements, signed by Kiev, endorsed by the UN Security Council and, more importantly, intended to firmly guarantee Ukraine’s territorial integrity. We stressed time and again that Kiev was openly sabotaging these agreements, essentially buying time to prepare for a military solution in Donbass. The West, including the UK, preferred not to listen.
▪️Secondly, Russia has repeatedly made it clear that further NATO enlargement to the East, pulling Ukraine into its orbit and artificially creating a vehemently anti-Russian state next to our borders is an unacceptable “red line”. Most recently, we voluntarily devised and forwarded our security proposals that would have ensured – in line with OSCE principles – indivisible security for all European countries. Unfortunately, the US and its NATO allies, including the UK, preferred not to listen, again.
▪️Thirdly, Russia has provided irrefutable evidence that neo-Nazism is flourishing in Ukraine, that the Kiev authorities are encouraging nationalist and far-right sentiments, fostering Russophobia, effectively “cancelling” Russia, including the Russian language and media and thereby depriving Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population of its lawful rights. Moreover, since 2014 Ukraine has deployed its military in a merciless punitive campaign against its own citizens in the Donbass region. Yet again, the West, including the UK, preferred not to listen.
▪️The aims of the Russian special military operation are straight-forward: to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine in order to protect the security interests of the Russian Federation and the rights of the Russian citizens, the citizens of Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine. As Secretary Wallace has rightly said, when someone does not want to listen – something that the West has clearly demonstrated – hard power is needed alongside words.
▪️Last, we were surprised to hear Secretary Wallace overtly supporting the call for British citizens to fight in Ukraine, thus fuelling hostilities, which the British government allegedly seeks to stop. It would have been advisable on Secretary Wallace’s part to warn his countrymen that in the event of capture they are bound to be treated as mercenaries, as the currently detained UK citizens in Donbass can confirm – devoid of any rights to combatant or prisoner-of-war status.
Read in full: http://www.rusemb.org.uk/fnapr/7150
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